Gloria Monty

Gloria Monty is an American TV producer working primarily in the field of daytime drama. After directing successful shows such as The Secret Storm, she is best known for taking over the ailing General Hospital in 1978, with thirteen weeks to turn the show around, or it would be cancelled. It subsequently became the top-rated US soap for a decade.

Related Topics:
American - TV - Producer - Daytime drama - The Secret Storm - General Hospital - 1978

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To accomplish this turnaround, she focused main storylines on younger characters to reach out to younger viewers, particularly the pairing of ingénue Laura Webber (Genie Francis) with troubled criminal Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary; whom she knew from his stint on her previous series, Bright Promise). She gave the sets a more contemporary look and feel, and employed production techniques once used only in primetime. One major result of the "Monty Revolution" was the increased pace of the show, effectively doubling the number of scenes in each installment.

Related Topics:
Genie Francis - Anthony Geary - Bright Promise

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Under Monty's watch the show rose to #1 in the ratings, with Luke and Laura's wedding being the highest rated daytime episode in history. Her era consisted of "supercouples" such as Luka/Laura, Frisco/Felicia, and Robert/Holly. She and various headwriters also created the Quartermaine family, Bobbie and Luke Spencer, Robert, Anna and Robin Scorpio, and many others who would dominate the show in the 80's and early 90's.

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Monty left the show in 1987 but returned in 1991. Although she had always been known for a tough, dictatorial attitude, her ideas no longer seemed in step with the world of Port Charles. She lured Anthony Geary back to daytime but went along with his demand to play a brand new character, Bill Eckert. An entire new family, the Eckerts, were ushered in, taking up four to five days a week of airtime while Monty attempted to phase out such stalwarts as the Quartermaines. Monty also fired a popular actress Jennifer Guthrie, who plays heroine Dawn Winthrop on the show, wrote out her character from getting murdered from a lead pipe. The ratings began to suffer serious erosion, and combined with the refusal of stars such as Tristan Rogers, who plays Robert Scorpio, to continue working with Monty, ABC had no choice but to fire her in 1992 and was replaced by Wendy Riche.

Related Topics:
1987 - 1991 - Jennifer Guthrie - Tristan Rogers - 1992 - Wendy Riche

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Monty produced several primetime thrillers after leaving the world of soaps.

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